


sincerely, unaware

by karenninaaa



Category: Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: F/M, Pepperony - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-14
Updated: 2020-03-14
Packaged: 2021-02-28 20:15:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 10,908
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23143033
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/karenninaaa/pseuds/karenninaaa
Summary: 4 Times Pepper and Tony spent Valentines' together and 1 time they spent it as a couple.
Relationships: Pepper Potts/Tony Stark
Comments: 13
Kudos: 68





	sincerely, unaware

**Author's Note:**

> I'm one month late for the Valentines' fic but it's better late than never, is it?

**1.**

Pepper Potts announced her arrival at Tony’s ridiculously big walk-in closet with a clink of her signature black pumps echoing in the room. She was in her usual black suit and skirt and she was also holding her tablet, which meant she was there to harangue him -as her boss put it, with a minefield of his upcoming schedules. Well, he wasn’t wrong.

Tony paid her no attention. His back was facing her. She stopped a few feet away from him, watching him fastened the cufflinks of his blue striped dress shirt.

She decided to speak up. “Mr. Stark, Mr. Bowman’s secretary called and she asked if you can have your meeting tonight instead of next week. Your schedule is clear for tonight. Should I confirm?”

“Say,” Tony said. He walked towards the shelf where dozens of neckties were neatly arranged and folded. He stopped in front of it, searching for a tie he should wear. “Does Mr. Bowman have a wife or partner-?”

“Divorced,” Pepper answered. “The brown tie on the upper corner is nice.”

Tony picked it up, nodding. “No wonder. . .”

She was quite baffled with how this was relevant to his schedule. “Right. Should I confirm?”

“Fine.”

She satisfyingly crossed out one from her 1267 things on her list. She put down her tablet on the top of a nearby cabinet. Those 1267 things could wait in a while. She sauntered towards him and snatched the necktie out of his hand. She unfolded it.

“Do you have any plans for tonight?” Tony asked.

“Yes, I am going to accompany my boss to a french restaurant later.” She moved closer to him and hung the tie around his neck and placed it underneath his collar.

Tony was unfazed by their proximity, both of them were. After all, Pepper had tied lots of neckties around his neck by now. She couldn’t remember how or when it had started. She had just accepted the fact that this was also included in her job description.

Tony tsk-ed. “If my schedule remained cleared, hypothetically, where would you be?”

“My apartment, of course, enjoying a rare early out at work, hypothetically.” She smiled with another satisfaction at the necktie done perfectly.

“No date then?”

That was when she looked up at him confusedly. “Why-?”

He sighed. “Yep no date, considering that you probably have no idea what’s today’s date..”

“Of course, I know what date is today. It’s February 14 - _Oh.”_

“Yeah, _oh_. As for me, I am going to have a date with a fifty-year-old divorced man. Yey.”

Pepper mentally rolled her eyes at his boss’ antics. She proceeded to the long hang bar of coats to choose one for Tony. “Well, it’s kinda hard to have a dating life when I’m mostly on 24/7 standby and too preoccupied with work.”

Tony shoved his hands into his pants’ pocket. He glanced at her. “Are you complaining about your job in front of your boss?”

She pulled out one particular navy blue coat. “Oh not really. I was merely stating. I still love my salary and satisfying bonuses that come along with my job.” She faced him holding up the coat. “Here, try this one.”

She stood behind him and assisted him in wearing the coat. They were in front of a full-body mirror. Tony was staring at her reflection on the mirror as he shrugged on the coat.

She noticed this and raised an eyebrow at him through the mirror. “What?”

“You should have a dating life, Potts,” He said, “I’m aware that your job can be -err demanding, but go out there and mingle and whatever. I’m also aware that you’ve got day-offs and you’re not always on 24/7 standby-”

“I said mostly.”

“Well.” He waved his hand. “My point is, date, Potts, date. Think of yourself sometimes and don’t think too much of me.”

“Uh-huh, that’s real advice you got there, boss.” She walked across the room, her heels _clink-clanking_ on the maple flooring. “I’ll keep that in mind.”

“See, it’s hard to get nowadays a sympathetic boss who also thinks of the personal well-being of his employee.”

Considering all the stress she had to suffer from his boss’ bad press left and right because of his womanizing and other bad habits; keeping him sober most of the time; dragging him by the collar (metaphorically) to the important meetings he had wanted to ditch just because he had felt like it; making sure he eats because his boss had a tendency not to eat and just drink scotch for dinner. And oh! Make sure he sleeps because he tends to forget about that too when he was too preoccupied tinkering in his garage. The list was endless just like the long list she always had that Tony needed to confirm or get done on her tablet. How could she not constantly think of him when she felt like if she had forgotten about him for a minute, she would found him dead under his bed? He didn’t even know his social security number, for goodness’ sake!

So, Pepper could only hum. It wasn’t like she could tell all about that and like she had said, she still liked her salary and bonuses.

She picked up her tablet and turned around. She smiled. “Don’t forget about your meeting at 7 pm at Taix, Mr. Stark.”

And of course, she had to remind him about it or else there was a high possibility that he wouldn’t come at all.

  
“Are you kidding me?” Pepper whisper shouted on the other line. There was no need for everyone at the restaurant to hear her frustration including her boss and risked on shattering the tranquil ambiance of the restaurant. She glanced at the aforementioned boss while she held the phone against her ear. She shifted from one foot to another as she stood near the entrance. Tony was sitting alone in his booth nearby, clad in a business suit and occupied with his blackberry. 

She resumed her attention to Mr.Bowman’s secretary on the phone. “You’re the one who asked to change the schedule. How could you not come?”

“But-” Pepper tried to say. She paused as she listened on the other line. She sighed. “Fine. I’ll let Mr. Stark know. I’ll keep in touch with you if a problem arises.” She hung up. She gripped the phone over her chest and took a deep breath.

It turned out that Tony was the one who had gotten ditch. It was probably a payback to all the events and meetings he had ditched in the past.

She turned around and shifted her entire composure to business-like. She approached Tony.

“Mr. Stark.” She stopped by his table.

“Let me guess,” Tony said, his eyes still focused on his blackberry. “He couldn’t come, uhhh, because he suddenly became a benevolent husband and went to his wife -ex-wife, whatever, instead.”

“Um, his secretary said that there has been an emergency and his wife was rushed to the hospital. He deeply apologized that he couldn’t come and also, he’ll be open to renegotiating the terms of land acquisition in Dubai.”

That finally caught Tony’s attention as he paused and gazed up at her. “Well look at that, a good deal has been made without talking my mouth off and exhausting my brain. Tell him I agree with 60-40 arms sales. I need to see a contract draft this week.”

She smiled. “As you wish, Mr. Stark.” She paused. “Do you wish to go home now? I’ll call Happy-”

“Sit down.”

She was startled. “I’m sorry?”

Tony looked exasperated. “We’re in a restaurant, might as well eat. It’s not like you have a date this Valentines.”

It was true. So Pepper obliged and sat across him. They had dined out occasionally and it was nothing new. In the end, she decided that it was better to have some company on a day that almost everyone was with someone to enjoy the seemingly romantic atmosphere just because Cupid was everywhere today, rather than to mope alone in her apartment while thinking how she could flex her schedule to have a dating life.

Tony called for their host and asked for the menu. He spoke. “So how about we discuss your ideal type. Maybe I could help you out so next Valentines' you’re not going to be stuck with me. Not that I don’t like it, I’m just thinking about your well-being and all.”

Pepper doubted that next Valentines' would be any different from this one but it wasn’t bad to dream. Still. . . “I’m not talking about that with you.”

Friendly chats had been part of their routines when they weren’t talking about work but it didn’t mean that she wouldn’t be embarrassed to talk about something like that, especially in front of her boss.

“Why not?” His eyebrow raised. “I’ve got lots of connections and know a lot of people, I can easily hook you up. I know the chef here. He’s single as far as I remember. You like someone good at distinguishing the difference between rosemary and parsley?”

She shook her head amusedly. 

Tony continued to babble on and on about whom she could possibly date in the future. Pepper continued to be amused while also wondering if she really had any criteria for that sort of thing.

The next day Pepper marched into Tony’s office holding a newspaper. She gave it to him. “Look at the picture on the front page. We’re on the headlines because of last night.”

Tony snatched it and gazed down at it. He suddenly looked gleeful. “Oh wow, we look together here!” 

She briefly closed her eyes. A vein was about to pop out from her temple. “Is that really the concern right now?”

Tony looked up at her. “Is there anything else?’

* * *

**2.**

A day came that Pepper didn’t love her salary and bonuses anymore. She was bone-deep tired. She was one sheet away from dropping and sleeping on the floor while waiting for her boss to finish a video conference at 11 pm. She had approximately eight hours of sleep that week.

Despite that, she waited because it was her goddamn job and she had no choice but to do it. Gosh, she hated her job.

She dazedly took notes about the things Tony had spouted off after the video conference. She must have written a few irrelevant things on her notes because of the fogginess of her brain. Somewhere along those lines of fuck coffee, sleep what, bed is where, and I’m quitting.

They shuffled to the waiting car at the front of Stark Industries building. She fought hard to stay awake on the way because she still had things to say to his boss, something about the new Spanish art set at the Louvre Museum and an alumni event invitation at MIT.

She must have fallen asleep in the end.

She had a dream. Tony was carrying her bridal-style into her apartment.

If this was real, she would have protested to be put down. How could she just let him into her bedroom? Not to mention, her room was a mess because she had no time to clean and Tony had probably seen some garments that shouldn’t be seen by a man.

But who cares, right? It was just a dream.

In her dream, Tony was as exhausted as she was and on the verge of collapsing because he had barely eaten anything and had fewer hours of sleep than her.

In her dream, Tony gently laid her on her bed and pulled the duvet over her.

He stared down at her for a moment. Before she could decipher the way he looked at her, he left.

It was morning when it all dawned on Pepper that it was not, in fact, a dream. She sat up on her bed as she slowly took in that realization. Another minute to sink in that Tony had actually seen the mess of her room.

She stared at the lingerie thrown at the back of the chair by her dresser, the bra on the floor and the three empty bags of Cheetos on the bedside table, on the shelf in between the books, and underneath her laptop on her desk (she stressed-eat okay!) Generally, it was a clutter of things around, and embarrassment hung in the air so heavy she could taste it. It was bitter and she was slowly dying inside.

She plopped back on the bed and pulled the duvet over her head. She needed a moment.

Later that morning, she marched down the Stark mansion as if she was marching for a battle. She clutched her resignation letter on one hand. She was ready to explain her bullet point reasons why she wanted to quit. Tony might not let her go that easily and she might get swayed by his sweet words. Tony was a good talker. Probably, one of the few reasons why she had stayed this long was because Tony was good at persuasion. It was the same reason why he had closed a lot of big business deals that had earned him billions of dollars.

So Pepper had to watch out for those. She would not get swayed. She made up her mind. She squared her shoulders. Here we go.

“Tony!” Her voice bounced off the marble walls.

She could call him that when she was not working and on a day-off. Since she was on a day-off, she wore jeans and a white fitted blouse. She also wore black ballet flats.

The mansion was quiet as usual. But Tony had to be here. He didn’t have any schedule for today. Unless he was off to his rendezvous with some skinny gal.

She immediately headed to the stairs down to his garage. She punched in the codes on the door and pushed it open.

It was also quiet in the garage.

She frowned. Strange. Was he not here too? She looked around. The place seemed to be empty of his presence.

She opened her mouth to ask Jarvis about the whereabouts of his creator when her eyes landed on the couch. She could only see the back of the couch. But there was unmistakably a human foot dangling over the armrest.

She slowly approached it. She peered over when she had reached the couch.

Tony was wrapped in a blanket and sleeping on the couch.

She moved closer to him to get a proper look at his sleeping face.

She frowned again. There was something off about his face. He seemed paler. Wait, was he shivering?

She immediately knelt by the couch. She put a hand on the side of his face.

“Fuck.” She muttered. 

Tony was burning with fever. She could probably boil an egg by simply putting it on his forehead.

“Jarvis,” She called out. “What’s his temperature?”

“102.2 F, Miss Potts.” The AI answered diligently. “He refused to call a doctor or anyone.”

Typical Tony.

“Well then, I am not him so call Dr. Rodriguez and call Happy. I can’t bring him upstairs alone.” She pocketed her letter in the back pocket of her jeans.

She would forget about it in a while.

Soon, Happy arrived and he brought him into his bedroom. He also changed Tony’s clothes wet with his sweat. Tony remained unconscious throughout. It was shortly followed by the arrival of Dr. Rodriguez. The doctor hooked Tony to an IV. Tony was dehydrated and over-fatigue. If his fever hadn’t gone down after the IV had been emptied, the doctor had prescribed him paracetamol. Other than that, all he needed was to rest.

The doctor left afterward. Happy walked the doctor out to the front door.

Pepper went to his closet to get a face towel. She proceeded to fetch water on a small basin in the bathroom. She sat on the edge of the bed and put the basin on the bedside table. She soaked the towel and wrang it out. She gently wiped his face with the towel.

She sighed wearily as she watched him sleep. She mused softly. “So your zombie-like face wasn’t also a dream, huh?”

She also wiped his arm, carefully avoiding the IV needle on the back of his hand.

Tony’s hand twitched at her grasp. She paused, glancing up. He was still asleep.

Then slowly, his hand wrapped loosely around her hand. She blinked back and forth between their hands loosely intertwined and back at his sleeping face.

She let him hold her hand for a while. His hand was so warm, so warm that it was uncomfortable. It felt like she was holding a freshly cooked food with her bare hand. Nonetheless, she continued to hold his hand.

“How could you get sick?” She wondered aloud, reaching up the basin to put down the towel. “You’re invincible. You can’t just get sick.”

His hand twitched again, lightly squeezing her hand. She spoke. “Right. Right. You’re just human. I know.”

Sometimes, it was strange, to be reminded of how frail and human his boss could be once in a while. She guessed that she had always seen him in a different light. Someone who’s resilient as a brick, and someone that felt like who could do anything and get whatever he wanted. Someone who had never run out of ideas for mischief and creativity. Someone who didn’t run out of a battery to go on his day.

And now, it was strange to see him so quiet and weak.

She stayed with him for hours. She picked up a random book at Tony’s shelf to pass some time. Occasionally, she would come to the bed to damp his sweat and apply a cold towel on his forehead. Tony stirred but didn’t wake up. Happy also checked in a few more times.

She sat on a recliner chair nearby holding an engineering book. Why did Pepper pick that up? She had no idea. It was the only thing he had on his shelf, all stuff about building. It was that or she would pick up a book about programming and algorithms. At least this one had pictures in it, she had enjoyed looking at books with lots of pictures in it.

Tony stirred again and made some quiet noise. It caught Pepper’s attention. She immediately went to him abandoning the book behind. His eyes were still closed but he was tossing and turning and making some sort of wounded noises.

“Is he having a nightmare?” She asked, peering cautiously at him.

Tony moaned as if he was in agony.

Before she could think about it, she was on Tony’s side. She slid down on the bed and propped her one elbow on it.

“Shh, it’s okay,” She whispered soothingly. 

Tony turned to her and she patted his arm comfortingly. His arm shot up to wrap around her waist. He snuggled close to her.

She froze. That was unexpected. She thought of bolting away and putting back the personal space between them. But seeing how he had calmed down, it made her second guess. But in the end, she stayed and shifted in her position so she could lie down comfortably next to Tony. She swore that she would get up before Tony could wake up. For now, she lay down on her side. She folded her elbow underneath her head. She marveled at how long Tony’s eyelashes were and how it fanned out across his cheeks. She was a little envious at the thought that his eyelashes were probably longer than hers.

Pepper opened her eyes. She immediately turned rigid when she had realized the position she was in. She exhaled slowly. She would not panic. It was fine. It was fine that her head was on his boss’ chest and his arm was wrapped around her. The worst thing was, her arm was draped over his stomach. How her limb had ended up in that position, she had no idea. She refused to be held responsible for how her body had acted when she was asleep. She was sure that it wouldn’t end up there if she was conscious.

She released another breath, a shaky one. She slowly lifted her head to look at Tony.

_Please be asleep, please be asleep. This will not happen again. I swear._

Pepper wasn’t religious but she dared and prayed.

Tony’s eyes remained closed.

 _Alleluyah!_ She rejoiced mentally. Now her next problem was to get out of the bed quietly without waking up him, so she could pretend that nothing of this sort had happened. She slowly turned. His arm fell limply on the bed. That was easy. All she needed to do now was get up. Pepper wasn’t breathing until she had closed the bedroom door on her way out.

“Jarvis, what time is it?” She was rushing down the stairs.

“It’s 1:15 in the afternoon, Miss Potts.” Jarvis’ voice echoed in the quiet mansion.

She halted in the middle of the stairs. Wait. Why was she acting like she had committed a felony? What was she guilty about? Was it because she had accidentally fallen asleep next to her boss? It wasn’t like they had sex or something, right?

Yes, Pepper, let’s be casual about this. It was nothing. She also needed to calm down the erratic beating of her heart.

“Miss Potts,” Jarvis spoke. “Are you okay? You’re experiencing elevated-”

“Shut it, Jarvis.” She cut in.

The AI went silent as asked.

She leaned into the banister and gripped the railings, while she regained her strength to be casual and composed as she usually was. Then she proceeded to the kitchen for a drink of water.

She tilted her head back and gulped down the glass of water. She was holding the pitcher in one hand. After drinking, she brought the pitcher back into the fridge. She turned in the direction of the sink to wash the glass.

And Happy was suddenly there. She was startled.

“Shit!” She fumbled for the glass. She almost dropped it. She straightened up when the glass was safely in her hands. She glared at Happy. “Happy, I am going to put a cowbell around your neck one of these days.”

But Happy just leaned back on the counter as he munched on his apple. The crunchy sound of the fruit felt too loud in the quiet. He had this smirk on his face that looked devious to Pepper’s liking.

“What?” She asked.

Happy chewed. “Did you sleep well?”

Pepper was mortified. “Y-you saw that?”

Happy shrugged. “I was about to bring you lunch but you’re sleeping... comfortably, by the looks of it.”

“It was an accident.” Pepper tried to explain. She felt hot all of a sudden. “I fell asleep-”

Happy raised his hand.

She paused.

“Stop explaining yourself like a guilty criminal.” Happy said.

“It won’t happen again.” She couldn’t help but add.

“Right.” Happy turned to exit the kitchen. “I hope you saw your lunch in the fridge.”

“I swear, it won’t happen again!” She called out.

Happy only waved his apple at her.

“Thank you for lunch!” She added.

After a while, she decided to cook porridge just in case Tony woke up and got hungry.

She tasted the porridge that was boiling in the casserole. She nodded satisfied when she had done the seasonings just right. She hummed and turned off the stove. She wondered if Tony was still asleep. She debated whether to bring a tray of porridge into his room or just wait for him to wake up.

“Right, let’s just wait for him to wake up.” She decided. She turned.

And she almost got a heart attack for the second time around.

“What the fuck!” She clutched her chest.

Tony was standing in the kitchen. He wore a gray cardigan over his white t-shirt. He looked like a zombie disguising as a human.

“Where is the prim and proper Pepper I’ve used to know?” Tony’s voice was hoarse. He smiled weakly at her.

She strode towards him. “What are you doing here?”

That earned her a raised eyebrow. “This is my house, isn’t it?”

“I mean _down_ here!” She hissed at him. She was in front of him. “You should be in your bed. What happened to your IV?”

“It’s empty so I pulled it out.” He answered.

“You pulled it out.” She echoed. “Are you a nurse? Why would you pull it out yourself!” She held his hand to inspect the back of it where the needle had been inserted.

“Who else would pull it out?” He said, “You’re not a nurse either.”

Thankfully, the back of his hand wasn’t bleeding or something. She grazed her thumb on the spot where the needle had been in. There was a tiny red dot on his skin. It looked okay though. 

“It’s clean, isn’t it?” Tony was talented enough to insert pride in his voice despite the hoarseness of it. “I know how to properly pull out an IV needle.”

She looked up at him. “What about your fever?” She put her other hand on Tony’s forehead.

She sighed visibly. His fever had gone down. “Well, at least your forehead doesn’t feel like there was a built-in stove in there.”

She put down her hand. She was about to let go of Tony’s hand but he gripped it. She briefly wondered how it could be so firm when he was sick and weak.

“Why are you here?” He asked. “I remembered not calling anyone.”

“Which was idiotic on your part.” She blurted out.

His eyebrow shot up.

“With all due respect,” She rectified. “To be honest, finding you dead somewhere in your house is one of my biggest fears. You can’t just live like this. Call someone if you need help. Call me if you need anything. I’m your secretary for goodness’ sake. I’m getting paid for this.”

“It’s your day-off today.”

She was caught off-guard by that. “W-was that why you didn’t call me?”

He only shrugged. “But it still does not answer my question. Why are you here?”

Why was she here? Right. There was a resignation letter that was burning a hole in the back pocket of her jeans. It had probably crumpled because she had sat on it so many times earlier. This was a good time to be saying something about it, wasn’t it?

But as she regarded Tony, who looked so worn-out and pale, her confidence wavered. How could she just spring it up on his sick face?

Also, she just noticed that he was holding her hand far too long than necessary. She tried to break free from his grasp but Tony wasn’t letting go.

“You’re not answering my question.” He was persistent.

“What does it have to do with you holding my hand?”

Tony released her hand. “There, happy? Answer me now.”

She wasn’t confident enough to lie in front of his face so she went to the kitchen counter. “I just remembered some files that I need to see in your office so I went here. Are you hungry? I cooked some porridge.”

There was no answer.

For one second, she feared that he had passed out so she immediately turned back at him.

He was still standing there, There it was again. That look. He gazed at her the same way he had stared at her in her dream. Or it wasn’t a dream too. Tony’s eyes were expressive. She knew that there was something in there that she couldn’t figure out yet. It was something new. She had first seen it in her dreams. It was somewhat trying to look impassive but some emotion was trying to bleed its way out of the impassiveness. Now that she had seen it awake, he looked wistful.

“Fine. I’ll eat.” He abruptly turned around and headed out of the kitchen.

“Get back to your room, okay? I’ll bring your food.” She said.

She would figure it out someday. It may become handy when it comes to babysitting him in the future.

Oh my god. In the future. She frustratingly stomped her foot. She didn’t even need to be sweet-talked and she had easily crumpled like the resignation paper in her pocket.

Well, it wasn’t like she could walk away like this. . .

Pepper held a tray with a bowl of porridge and a glass of water. She was on her way upstairs when she saw Tony slouched down on the couch in the living room. He was watching TV. She sighed. At this point, she could only sigh when Tony wouldn’t do what he had been told, but since when did he ever?

So she went there instead.

She put down the tray on the coffee table. She sat on the other end of the couch. He quietly picked up the tray and put it on his lap. He started eating while she watched TV. A movie was showing. It looked familiar though. She remembered seeing the movie poster of it in the theaters. Though unfortunately, she hadn’t had the chance to see it on its release. It was a rom-com and she was a sucker for a rom-com.

Pepper burst into laughter at the screen. The movie was on the part where there was a walrus who had vomited a ton and a zookeeper got showered from head to foot by the vomit. He was unfortunate enough to be in the projectile point of the vomiting walrus.

“So you still got no date this year, huh.”

She peeled her gaze away from the screen to look at Tony. The tray was still in his lap but the bowl and the glass were empty. She was pleased.

But that was not the point, Tony had said something that she hadn’t quite caught clearly. “What?”

“You’re still date-less this year.” He repeated. He put back the tray on the coffee table.

“What are you talking about. . . “ She trailed off and mentally recalled today’s date. 

Stupid Valentines’ Day.

She returned her attention to the TV. “Why are you so invested in my dating life?”

“Just concerned, that’s all.”

She snorted. “I’ll take care of my own love life. Thank you very much.”

The movie was interesting. She glanced back at him and pointed on the screen. “Do you know what movie that is? I can’t recall the title. Nevermind, you don’t watch that sort of thing-”

“50 First Dates. It was a nice movie.” His eyes were on the screen.

“Huh,” She was startled by this new revelation. Years of working for him, she thought that she already knew everything about him. Apparently, she hadn’t. “You watch that sort of thing.”

“I get extremely bored sometimes and I don’t feel like tinkering at the same time.” He vaguely waved his hand. “Why don’t you microwave popcorn? The movie will get more interesting later on.”

“Pause the movie.” She excitedly stood up.

“Jarvis, you heard the lady.”

The movie paused. She ran to the kitchen to get some popcorn.

When she got back to the living room with a bowl of popcorn, Tony had fallen asleep. His head was tilted back on the backrest of the couch. His arms were crossed over his chest. She contemplated continuing to watch the movie. She didn’t want to disturb and wake him.

“Sit down.” Tony suddenly said. His eyes remained closed. He didn’t move from his position.

Oh, why did this feel like a deja vu?

Nonetheless, she obliged. ‘How did you even know I was already here?”

Tony gave her a side-glance. “Your thoughts are so loud I can hear them.”

“And what thoughts I’m having?” She dared. She put down the bowl on her lap. He couldn’t possibly know-

“You’re thinking of not watching the movie anymore. You’re that considerate. But by all means, don’t mind me, watch it anyway.”

She stared at him. “This is so unfair.”

“How it was unfair, I’m letting you-”

“How could you know me so well?” And here she was, having a hard time figuring out what _that_ single look meant.

“Scary, isn’t it?”

Not entirely. . .

Tony moved. He snatched up the bowl on her lap and put a throw pillow on her lap instead. He gave back the bowl to her. She looked at him bewilderedly. Then he swung his feet up to the armrest and lay back on the couch with his head on her lap.

He sighed contentedly. “This is comfier.”

Meanwhile, Pepper remained rooted in her position. Tony noticed it and mistook it for something else.

He spoke. “Right, Jarvis, resume the movie. You watch. I sleep.” He turned on his side, facing away from the TV.

She put down the bowl on the armrest. “Why don’t you sleep in your bed instead? It’s bigger.”

“Exactly. It’s too big.” He said,

And that was the thing, wasn’t it? The reason why she couldn’t submit her resignation letter now. She had realized that Tony was lonely like she was. He was living alone with no one to look after him. He could be so stubborn and someone had to keep an eye on him. And she decided to take that role.

Somehow, she liked it.

Yes, she might hate her job now and then. But the part where she had to look after Tony, it was something she would never hate, and probably would never get tired of.

Later on, a piece of paper burned in Tony’s fireplace and all that had remained was ashes.

* * *

**3.**

Pepper Potts was in a good mood. She hummed as she stood by Tony’s desk. She was waiting for him to sign the papers she had just handed to him.

Tony looked up from his seat. “You’re in a good mood today.”

“It’s Valentines’ Day.”

“Right.” Tony picked up his pen. “Let me guess you finally got a date this time.” He signed the paper.

“You don’t have an appointment for tonight,” She said. “If you wish to have something to get done today, please tell me earlier so-”

“Forget it.” Tony closed the folder. “Let’s not ruin this year’s Valentines for you.” He gave the folder to her.

She smiled gratefully. “Well, that would be all, Mr. Stark.”

Tony waved at her dismissively. Pepper tried not to run on her way out. She had a date this Valentines'. She would doll herself up and meet her date tonight. She was optimistic that her Valentines' this year will be good.

She arrived at the restaurant ten minutes earlier before their meet-up time. She sat on the booth by the window that she had reserved for both of them. A hostess arrived to accommodate her but Pepper told her to come back later since she was still waiting for someone. She gazed at the window and waited.

After a while, Pepper looked down at her wristwatch. It was now 7:30. She had been waiting for thirty minutes and her date was still not there. She had texted and called him earlier but he hadn’t replied nor answered her call.

Why did she feel like she was slowly getting doused by a bucket of cold water? She glanced around. All of the customers were eating and laughing with someone or a group of people. It was a mistake to look at them because the pit in her stomach twisted in a knot.

Still, she tried to be optimistic. Maybe Andrei just got caught up in traffic and his phone died, out of battery. He would come.

The hostess graciously gave her a glass of water. She smiled sympathetically at her.

It just made Pepper a bit worse than before.

8:00 P.M.

Pepper was still alone. She had already noticed that some of the customers were glancing at her, a pitiful one.

She should be leaving, right? To spare herself with more embarrassment because she got stood up. But she felt like she was glued to her seat and she couldn’t move.

It was just, she was looking forward to this day. She had spent hours in the mall trying to find a perfect dress to wear. She also had bought a new pair of shoes that would compliment her royal blue V-neck dress. She even had searched online for topics to talk about on a date like this because it had been that long since she had gone on a date, and her social skills when it came to a prospect romantic interest had gotten rusty. But anyway, the point was, she had prepared so much and had a hard time choosing this perfect restaurant. Now, she just felt pathetic for doing all of those. She would never trust those stupid dating websites again. Ever.

She took a deep breath. Alright. She would deal with this like a champ and she would walk out there with her head held high. She could at least do that, for herself.

She moved, preparing herself to stand up.

“I’m sorry, I’m late!”

Pepper froze. 

She slowly looked up.

Tony Stark sauntered towards her in an all-black suit. People were now openly looking at them with interest after Tony had just announced his arrival for the entire restaurant to hear. And honestly, Pepper didn’t know which was worse, getting stood up on a date or dealing with another tabloid news about them.

Tony slid down smoothly into the booth.

“What are you doing?” She tried to lift the corner of her mouth to pretend that she was smiling and not to give people more things to gossip about.

Tony leaned forward, also smiling. He spoke in a low voice. “Aren’t you grateful that your boss is coming to your rescue. By the way, your date is a total jackass.” He leaned back.

Pepper was going to have a headache.

“How did you even know that I was here?” She rubbed her temple inconspicuously.

“Potts, you’re not the only one who’s allowed to get a date on this day.”

She looked around. “Then where is she?”

“We call it a night. I was nearby and I saw you. It wasn’t that hard to connect the dots after seeing you all alone in here.”

“Both of us are going to wake up to another gossip news tomorrow.” She warned him.

Tony just snorted. “I thought by now, you’ve already gotten used to it.”

“I can’t believe you.” She shook her head. Although, she would be lying if she wouldn’t admit even if just to herself that she felt a little better than earlier.

“I can’t believe it either, you’re stuck with me again,” Tony said.

“It’s scary how this is becoming an annual thing on Valentines', isn’t it?”

Tony hummed disapprovingly. “Not really.” A pause. “And also, you look really pretty today.”

Tony was smiling too earnestly for Pepper’s liking. The pit of her stomach twisted again, though she was sure that it was for a different reason now.

“You’re not bad yourself.” She smiled back.

“Don’t I always?” His lips quirked up. “And I just wanna say that your jackass date had missed a ton tonight.”

“Let’s not just talk about him,” She said, “my blood boils just from thinking about him.”

“Great Idea!” Tony turned to call for their hostess to order. 

The next morning, Pepper was holding a newspaper with their picture in the front. They were both beaming at each other in the picture as if they had a good time.

Well, the picture wasn’t lying.

* * *

**4.**

This wasn’t how Pepper’s plan was supposed to go on Valentines'. She was supposed to be spending it alone in her apartment, reading a novel. Not being whisked away to sit among her college acquaintances she hadn’t seen in years. Not being forced to listen to said college friends bragged about their fiance’s or husbands. Yep. All of them were about to get married or had gotten married except for her. In hindsight, she should have listened to her laziness of getting up and taking a walk to her favorite coffee shop nearby, just because she had craved for a cup of espresso. Then she had to bump into a group of ladies who were about to enter the coffee shop. Then there had been a split second when they all had frozen and recognized each other. Then they had dragged her to sit with them to catch up even before she could say anything. They had said that they were all waiting for their partners to come for their group date so they were killing some time in the coffee shop. They all looked glamorous, while Pepper was not trying her best not to feel small wearing jeans and a pink knitted sweater. Her hair was not any better since she had just pulled it up hastily into a messy bun.

“So, Ginny,” Lulu began.

Oh no, this was bad. She was now the subject of the conversation which she had tried to avoid for the past half an hour.

“You must have someone special eh? You’re like the popular girl back in the college days.” Lulu added.

The latter five ladies nodded expectantly at her.

“You know we thought that you’re the first one who’s going to get married among us,” Minda said. Then she glanced down at Pepper’s hands curled into her sweater near her abdomen. “But seeing you’ve still got no ring, a boyfriend perhaps?”

Pepper couldn’t possibly tell them that she had been slaving to capitalism for the better part of her years that she hadn’t had time to find a suitable boyfriend. She couldn’t just tell them the debacle that had happened to her Valentines last year. How embarrassing was that?

“Uh, I-I have... “ Pepper found herself nodding at them.

“Oh yeah?” Cindy looked suspicious.

“He's overseas right now, so no date today. But he promised that he’s going to make it up to me when he comes back. . .” Pepper mentally cringed at how the lies easily had flown out of her mouth.

There was a chorus of _aww_ from the group.

“Then what does he do?” Lindsy asked. “We’ve seen the news about you and Tony Stark from time to time so we’re kind of relieved that he’s not giving you a hard time.”

“Oh, he’s not, he’s actually a nice boss.” It wasn't a lie though. So it was nice to say something real to them.

They just gave her a dubious look.

“So what does your boyfriend do? Cindy insisted.

“A Pilot. He’s in Belgium right now.” Now, she just felt pathetic. What was so wrong about being single? Maybe because she was surrounded by people who had found someone they could share their life with. And maybe, Pepper was a bit, _tiny-weeny_ , jealous of that. It would be nice that there was someone you could call to at the end of the day to rant about your bad day, someone you could cuddle with and watch silly movies, someone who would worry about you when you were sick, someone who would laugh with you about the most mundane things. That would be nice, wouldn’t it?

Pepper abruptly stood up. “I’m sorry. But I have to go. I just remembered something that I have to do. Have fun with your dates.”

She made her way out of the coffee shop not before hearing Cindy whispered to Lulu. _I bet the pilot guy is not even real._

She tried not to flinch with shame, how Cindy’s words hit her straight to her core and it was numbing.

She pushed the door open. Opening the door seemed like a difficult task to do. The door felt heavier than usual. As soon as she stepped out to the sidewalk, she felt a wet drop on her cheek.

She looked up.

It was drizzling.

And she didn’t have an umbrella with her.

Pepper concluded that the universe was absolutely mocking her on this day. She resisted the urge to hug herself. Her college acquaintances were still there and probably looking at her through the window, watching her reduced to a miserable mess who had an imaginary boyfriend.

The drizzle was starting to turn into a downpour of rain. She was starting to get drench. She would never go back inside where her college acquaintances and humiliation were. She should run for her apartment to avoid getting soaked in the rain even more but why couldn't she move? Another feeling of deja vu where she was frozen in embarrassment. Why was it always happening to her on Valentines' Day? What’s with her and her constantly disgracing herself on Valentines'?

Only then, Pepper noticed that she wasn’t getting wet by the rain anymore. 

She frowned. Strange.

It was still raining. She could see the _pitter-patter_ of rain on the pavement.

She looked up.

There was an umbrella over her head.

She slowly turned her head to the side.

Tony Stark was standing next to her holding the yellow umbrella for both of them. He wore a matching light pink suit and dress pants, underneath was a white shirt with the first two buttons undone. Though, his one shoulder was getting wet in the rain because the umbrella was leaning more over her.

“Are you starring in some sort of sappy shit movie, why are you getting soak in the rain?” Tony said.

That’s right. He was always here too on Valentines' when she felt like this day was the most horrible day created by mankind.

“You’re the most responsible person I’ve ever met,” He continued. “I mean you should know that you have to take care of yourself. You’re my secretary and you have to be fit all the time. Why are you here anyway?” He turned his head to look around.

But Pepper held both sides of his face, stopping him from turning.

“Look at me.” She blurted out. She had a sudden, stupid, idiotic, moronic idea.

Tony slowly looked back at her, startled. “Y-yeah, I’m looking at you. W-what’s going on?”

Pepper glanced over his shoulder. Her college acquaintances were still there and their attention was still on her as they peered through the window. Good. This position should be good enough. Tony wouldn’t be seen because his back was against them and the umbrella was partially covering them. This should be enough to give them the gist of what she wanted to show them.

She gazed at him. “Can you do me a favor?”

He was staring. “Depends.”

“Can you act sweetly to me?” She continued. “Holding my hand will be fine.”

“Potts, you should know that I am an expert in that department. But what’s happening? Why do I have to act like a sweet boyfriend who will sweep you up suddenly-” He paused.

She dropped her hands to her side and her patience was running thin. They needed to do something now or else her college acquaintances would be even more suspicious. They couldn’t take long either or else they might recognize Tony. Thankfully, the street was partially deserted and dark. People that passed by hadn’t given them any attention, yet.

“Come on, just do it. So we can get out of here fast.” She muttered. She could see the coffee shop window on her peripheral vision.

They were still looking, curiously. Waiting for something to happen and Pepper needed to give it to them, to salvage what was left of her dignity...

But Tony was taking his time. He shifted on one foot to another. “Are we pretending to be boyfriend-girlfriend now?”

She shushed him.

“Am I wrong?” He raised an eyebrow at her. He was enjoying this and Pepper was regretting this.

She could only sigh in defeat.

“Who are we making jealous?” He asked excitedly.

“A few people. They’re behind you inside the coffee shop and they’re looking at us right now through the window. We just need to make it seem like I do have a boyfriend.” She smiled as if she had just said something sweet to him.

“Oh!” Tony barked a short laugh. “What have you done, Potts? You owe me the details later. But for now, I have a damsel in distress to save. First off, can you hold the umbrella for me for a sec?”

Pepper was bewildered but she obliged, taking the umbrella from his grasp. Tony proceeded to shrug off his coat.

“A boyfriend should not let his dear girlfriend get cold, or else she might get sick.” Tony put his coat around her shoulder.

“Secondly,” Tony continued. “We should act like we’ve missed each other like crazy even though we’ve only seen each other yesterday.” He wrapped his arm around her waist and pulled her closer to him. 

She almost yelped in surprise but she held her tongue off. They had to look natural as if they had done this a lot of times.

“Honey,” Tony muttered. “You should put your arm around me too. Don’t make it one-sided.”

“You’re so good at this.” There was a hint of sarcasm in her voice. She wrapped her arm around his waist nonetheless.

“Told you, I’m an expert. And they should see this, of course.” Tony held back the umbrella for both of them. He tilted the umbrella a bit to one side, so their audience would have a bit of glimpse of their proximity. But at the same time, there was enough cover for them, so he wouldn’t get recognized.

“Lastly, the important part,” Tony whispered.

She was about to ask what it was when he leaned forward.

Tony pressed a kiss on her forehead.

Pepper’s eyes widened. Her heart hammered from her chest. She could feel the tenderness of his kiss surged deep into her bones and her knees would have probably given out if Tony wasn’t holding her.

He pulled away and she gazed up at him, which seemed to be a mistake. Their faces were now inches apart.

Her surroundings momentarily faded and there was nothing but Tony and his brown doe eyes at her. She tried her best not to get sucked in by those brown eyes. But his eyes were pretty. She had secretly admired it. Now that she had an opportunity to examine it up close, just to know what made his eyes unique and brighter among other eyes she had seen.

“Pepper,” His voice was soft and low. “You know that when I do something, I always go all out, right?”

She blinked. “Yeah... ?”

“For the sake of our little show, let’s go all out.”

“What do you mean-”

“Please, don’t punch me after this.”

Tony leaned forward and captured her lips.

And Pepper’s heart jumped off the cliff, falling to an endless pit forever.

Before she could fully process it, her hands cradled his face, deepening the kiss. She reminded herself that this was all just an act. At the same time, she couldn’t help but enjoy every second of it. The line between make-believe and genuineness of it all blurred under the rain.

It took all her willpower to pull away from the warmth of his lips.

She swallowed and couldn't look at Tony’s eyes. She peered over Tony’s shoulder. She smiled, pleased when her message had gotten to their audience just fine. Cindy and Lulu had their hands on their mouths while the others gawked like fishes out of the fish tank.

“Come on let’s go.” She tugged Tony’s hand.

Tony was amused when she had recounted the details behind their little show on their way to the apartment. He was so at ease despite what had happened earlier. But not so much for Pepper. After the adrenaline of their drama had left her system, embarrassment and awkwardness gnawed her silently from the inside. Logical reasoning was smacking her in the head. How could she involve Tony, of all people, in something like that? She wasn’t going to get fired because she had started that little show in the first place, wasn’t she?

They reached her apartment building and stepped under the roof. Tony folded the umbrella.

Pepper couldn’t help it. She had to say something. “Look, Tony about earlier-”

He suddenly whipped around to face her. “You’re not going to punch me, are you?”

“No.” She frowned.

He looked relieved. “Good. Then what about it?”

“I’m sorry-”

He hissed audibly as if he was struck by something. “I am wounded, Potts. How could you apologize for that kiss, I was the one who did it in the first place-”

“I was apologizing for the sudden way I acted earlier-”

“You’re not apologizing about the kiss?”

“I am not. I shouldn’t have involved you in my personal affairs-”

Tony waved her off. “I willingly participated, remember? Besides, it’s fun.”

“So, you’re not going to fire me... ?”

He rolled his eyes. “No.”

She sighed in relief. “I promise that it won’t happen again.”

“Aww, why not. It’s fun-”

She just gave him a look. He shrugged, shutting up.

“Anyway, do you want to come inside?” She pointed at the entrance. “Or maybe you have to be somewhere-”

“You’re my secretary, haven’t you memorized my schedule for today?” He quirked up an eyebrow at her.

She crossed her arms. “I’ve memorized your work schedule, your personal schedule isn’t included in it.”

“Touché,” He conceded, “and no, I have nowhere to be right now except your apartment.”

She gestured him inside. 

But Tony held her wrist, stopping her. She raised her eyebrow questioningly at him.

“First thing first,” He said, “there’s something in the coat’s inside pocket, you might as well get it before I get an impulse nerve to chuck it down to the nearest trash bin.”

Pepper’s bewilderment deepened. She pointed at his coat that hung on her shoulders. “In here?”

“What else coat am I gonna talk about? Of course, that coat.”

She just rolled her eyes at his sass. Nonetheless, she complied and shoved her hand into the inner chest pocket. She touched something hard. She pulled it out. It was a small square black box.

“What is this?” She inquiringly tilted her head at him.

“A box.”

She blew out a breath of patience.

“That’s for you,” Tony added.

“I’m sorry?” Now, she was startled. 

“I was on my way to your apartment to give that to you when I saw you in front of the coffee shop.”

“Why so suddenly-”

“It’s nothing.” Tony waved his hand in dismissal. “I passed by a jewelry shop the other day and saw that. Kinda reminded me of you.”

She gazed down at the box and opened it. Inside, was a pair of stud earrings. She smiled. “They’re pretty.”

“Do you like it?”

She smiled up at him. “Very much.”

“As you know,” Tony said. “I’m going to Afghanistan soon for a weapons demo. Might as well give you something to remember me when I’m not around.”

“So I won’t think about changing my boss?”

“Yep.” He popped the ‘p’.

She chuckled.

“Well, that’s it. Happy Valentines. Yey. Let’s head inside your apartment.”

Pepper easily noticed his smile when he had seen her wearing the earrings at work. She wore it for a very long time even when Tony hadn’t come back from Afghanistan for three months. She didn’t think of removing it before going to bed and after shedding tears because Tony was still missing. There was a fleeting thought that maybe, the earrings were a farewell gift from him. She easily dismissed that thought as fast as it came.

And then, and then, he came back. The earrings were still on her ears as she waited for him at the tarmac.

Everything changed. Tony changed. But it wasn’t like Pepper didn’t like the change in him either. There was now a glow in his chest. And Pepper’s heart was probably glowing too. She tried to ignore the shine in it. But it just got brighter and brighter as it continued to fall from the cliff. It hadn’t stopped falling since that one fateful Valentines' Day under the rain.

* * *

**+1**

For once, Pepper was not mortified or embarrassed on Valentines' Day.

In fact, she’s got a perfect date. He wasn’t someone whom she had found on dating websites. He wasn’t someone who would ditch her on a date either. He wasn’t someone whom she had desperately tried to find so she wouldn’t feel pathetic about being alone, sometimes.

He was someone who had been there all this time.

She tried not to skip on her steps as she walked down the sidewalk. Her phone was against her ear. She tried not to swing her handbag too much as she talked to the other line.

“Ugh. I know! I could feel his misogyny from across the table. I had to physically restrain myself from choking him with his thousand dollars necktie.” She rolled her eyes. Though, there was a smile on her face that contained so much fullness from her heart, a smile that felt understated from the unfathomable euphoria enveloping her and it’s blinding.

Then there was a laugh on the other line. Her heart swooned. He asked, “What did you do then?”

“What else was I gonna do? I just reminded him who the hell is the CEO.”

Another bark of laughter from him and she could swear that her glowing heart had morphed into a disco ball, so much light, so much color.

“I knew there’s a reason why I had my eyes on you from the beginning, Potts.”

“Really?”

He just hummed. “Where are you?”

“Nearby. I’ll be there in a sec..”

“Alright see you.” He hung up.

Pepper tried not to walk a little bit faster, tried not to let her excitement show or else she’d probably run.

She entered the restaurant. She briefly looked around and noticed that the whole place was deserted

“This way, ma’am.” The staff amicably said and gestured the way. Pepper followed her.

She turned to the corner and paused.

Tony Stark was standing a few feet away, waiting for her and holding a bouquet of tulips.

Rose petals scattered on the ground. There were roses everywhere. The walls were decorated with roses. There was a lone table in the center where Tony was currently standing by. He looked dashing in a pinstripe gray suit and tie.

She inconspicuously blew out a breath to let out her overwhelming affection for him. Of course, trust Tony to rent out the entire restaurant for their Valentines’ date.

She carefully walked towards him. She didn’t want to trip. She had never tripped in her heels ever since she had been Tony’s secretary. But it was quite different now that she was still overflowing with love it was bleeding out of her and she might trip over it.

“Hi.” She smiled when she reached him.

“Hi,” He smiled back and wrapped his one arm around her waist. A way of beckoning her closer to him.

“Too much?” He murmured.

She continued to smile. That smile wouldn’t probably be wiped off from her face ever. “Just perfect.”

Tony smiled brightly. He kissed her on the lips.

And that was everything.

They held hands across the table as they enjoyed their cups of coffee after their meal. The bouquet of tulips was at the corner adorning the table.

“Come to think of it,” Pepper suddenly said. “I feel like I’ve spent all my Valentines’ with you ever since being your secretary. I couldn’t remember now the time that I didn’t spend it with you.”

“Not really, remember Clarisse back in Paris-”

She cut him off with a glare and a deathly grip on his hand. “Don’t you dare mention that. I still remember her and how my blood still boils when I remember that. I had to burst into your hotel room and interrupt your - _uh,_ activity because I found that she’s just coveting you. God, I hate that woman.”

“Are you sure that it wasn’t jealousy that you felt back then?”

“Nope, it was too soon to feel jealous about that.”

He shrugged. “Well then, it’s probably a curse that you were unfortunately stuck with me on Valentines' day every single time or I might have done it on purpose… occasionally . .”

“On purpose?” She frowned.

“It’s just recently you know.” He was defensive. “The idea started with Mr. Bowman when he ditched me. I had this fleeting thought that I kinda like spending this day with you. He gave me a realization. Loved that guy.”

“You got sick the next year on Valentines.” She pointed out.

He grinned, caressing her hand with his thumb. “I love that year. Imagine my shock when I woke on my bed next to my secretary with her arm around me.”

She gasped. “You knew about that?”

He nodded. “Happy knew that I knew. He might have caught me putting my arm under your head. I wanted you to be comfy after all. It’s kinda hard to fall asleep again after that.”

“You were awake the whole time I tried to sneak out of the room?”

He nodded again. “I had to make it easy for you to get out of the room or else I feel like you’re gonna have an aneurysm.”

She shook her head disbelievingly. “Here I was thinking that you might fire me when you woke up and caught me next to you.”

“But you were thinking about resigning that day, were you?”

She could only stare at him.”Of course, you knew about that too.”

“I had my hunch initially. I first saw it when you were leaving my room and when we were in the kitchen. The white envelope was peeking out from the back pocket of your jeans as if it wanted me to see it.”

“And you never mentioned it?”

“I asked you, remember? I asked you that day why you’re at my house. But you lied and honestly, I liked it that you lied because I was afraid that you’re really going to hand that thing in your back pocket.”

“Well, I changed my mind.”

“Why?”

“Because I am all you have, right?” She whispered faintly. There was sadness in her voice, a little broken at the edge. Her heart ached for him sometimes, every time she would notice the sadness in his eyes and the cracks within him he had tried to hide.

"I don't want you to leave.” His hand tightened around hers. “As I said, I like spending Heart's Day with you and probably, every single day too, not just that day."

"Then why did you encourage me to date before?"

"Because deep down, I wouldn't just admit it to myself before, but I was afraid that the time would come and you're not going to be stuck with me anymore. I was convincing myself that you'd leave one day, worst, with another guy."

“But, I didn’t leave, did I?”

“Yeah.” There was a relief and his smile and a bit of a shine in his eyes and it wasn’t so sad anymore.

“What about next year, after that Valentines’ I almost resigned?” She urged on.

“Oh, the year where you got a date and that jackass ditched you?”

She nodded.

“I really didn’t have a date that day.” He confessed. “I wanted to stop doing that when I wanted to spend those days with you. It took a bit of tracking where the restaurant was because you wouldn’t give me the details. At first, it was all about jealousy but when I found out that he stood you up, I had this urge to make his entire life miserable because he made your day the same.”

“You didn’t do anything to him, did you?”

He only snorted. “I did a bit of research and apparently you’re not the first one he had ditched. I did nothing major. Just, his reputation among the ladies plummeted down ever since. He never recovered.”

“What-?”

Tony leaned down and kissed her knuckles, effectively shutting her up.

She narrowed her eyes on him, a way of saying that they were not done with the subject yet. But she would let it go in the meantime.

“Wanna dance?” He suddenly asked.

“Oh, I don’t think-?” 

Tony stood up, still holding her hand. “Come on, let’s dance, Potts.” He tugged her hand, urging her to stand up.

She obliged, shaking her head amusedly.

They stood near the table. Tony’s arm was around her waist. As if on cue, music started to play. They started to sway on the slow beat.

Tony was staring at her.

“What?” She giggled.

“I love you.”

Tony continued to look at her, that look she had tried to decipher for years. The look that she had initially thought started in her dreams.

Now, she was beaming. Because she had recently deciphered what it meant.

She kissed him.

Unlike her, who had not stopped falling from the cliff since then, Tony had tried to claw his way out, even if he would bleed secretly trying to stop the fall. Perhaps, he had fallen earlier than her. Perhaps, he had gotten afraid that his heart wouldn’t be bright enough for her.

But Pepper could see it, even if it was hiding beneath a cold metal, she could clearly see how it was the brightest among the rest. Its warmth seeping through that she could feel it all.

  
  


**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading!


End file.
